Bracelet attachment



Dec. 27,. I1938. A. B, @GULDEN 2,142,023

BRACELET ATTACHMENT Filed July 31, v1937 /r/ a /4 ATTONEY.

Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a bracelet attachment, and more particularly to an improved means for releasably latching or locking an extensible bracelet in its contracted condition.

Among the objects of the invention are: to provide a quicker acting and more satisfactorily operable release which, upon its manual operation, will automatically extend the diameter or compass of the bracelet suiciently to permit it to pass over the hand of the wearer; to provide an improved spring-impelled extending means for the bracelet; to provide an improved arrangement of cooperating slidable and folding members which form. a portion of the circumferential extent of the bracelet; to furnish a finger-nailoperable release element which is operable by less force and hence will safeguard breaking the nails of the operator; to furnish opening and closing means for the bracelet which will operate with less frictional resistance; to furnish an extension spring which, while operating efliciently, will not materially thicken the bracelet; and to, in general, improve upon extensible bracelets with regard to simplicity of construction and dependability of operation.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates what it at present deemed to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, now reduced to practice:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the casing of the extensible connecting unit.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the member shown in Fig, l, looking from right to left as indicated by the line and arrows in the latter View.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the finger-nailoperable releasing member, separately shown.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of said releasing member looking at the right end thereof as viewed in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal mid section of the complete connecting unit or assembly, showing said unit in both the unfolded and longitudinally extended condition.

Fig. 8 is al plan View of a bracelet furnished with the connecting unit provided by the invennon-extended condition with an extended chain.

section of the bracelet attached to each end thereof.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the non-swingable member of the three-part foldable extenslon.

Fig. 10 is a plan View of the middle member orv link of the foldable extension.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the middle mem- 5 ber or link of the foldable extension.

Fig. 12 is a plan View of the terminal member of the fo-ldable extension .of the connecting assembly.

Fig. 13 is a cross section on line I3-I3 of Fig. l2.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the atly coiled compression spring which automatically extends the connecting assembly whenever the latching element thereof is released. 3b

Fig.15 is a cross section on line l5-I5 of Fig. 14.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the connecting assembly 5 (see Fig. 8) provided by thisl invention may be used to connect to each other a pair of bracelet sections 6 for wrist watches or the like, the particular kind of bracelet sections used not pertaining to the invention.

The casing 'l of the connecting unit or assembly, the slidable, non-folding bed plate member 8, the middle foldable member 9 and the terminal foldable member Ill are all uniformly arched to a slight extent in order that said members 9 and l in their folded up condition may be nested within said bed plate 8 and the assembly of parts 3, 9 and Il) in turn nested within the casing l. Said casing 'l is substantially rectangular in cross section except that, along the midwidth of its convex face it is furnished for nearly its entire length with a rise or flat bead 'lb that aids in housing the resilient releasing tongue ll of the latching or locking means. One end portion l2 of said tongue is doubled over upon itself in an angular manner to form a smooth and substantial finger nail hold for the operator to use' in prying up on that end of said tongue to effect the release of the pawl tooth 92a carried thereby, the purpose of which will presently appear.

The opposite end portion of the resilient tongueI i l is furnished with a plurality of notches I3, one of said notches forming a sea-t for the edge portion of a lip lil formed by an end ange of the inner wall l5 of the casing l, the tongue Il thus being retained pre-stressed in its operative position within said casing, whereby the free end 5 thereof may be flexed. The purpose of providing two or more of the notches i3 is in order to facilitate the insertion of the spring tongue l l to the correct operative position.

The slidable member 8 isy 4of a channel shape in cross section and has at its inner end a head 20 which fits slidably within the casing 'I below the inserted latch tongue I I, the insertion of said member 8 being opposed by a compression spring 2| which is coiled in a. iiatwise manner to fit within said casing alongside said tongue. Adjacent to its inner end the casing 1 has internal pins 1:1: which cooperate with the head 20 to prevent a complete withdrawal of the slidable member 8 from said casing. The head 20 is shown made up of the end iiange shown and of a shouldered projection 20s` at each side thereof, said projections engaging said pins to limit the outward slide of said member 8.

A pivot 22 connects the outer end of member 8 with the middle member or link 9 of the three part foldover extension, and a pivot 23 connects said member 9 with the terminal member I0. The terminal member I0, shown in cross section in Fig. 13, is of a channel shape, but has a broad longitudinal depression 24, along its mid-width, and when members 8, 9 and I0 are in their folded over inserted position within the casing 1, said depression 24 then forms a track or runway for the spring tongue II. Along this depression 24 travels the tooth I2a of said tongue and in this depression are a series of triangular apertures 25 each of which has a straight side constituting a ratchet shoulder or ratchet tooth which cooperates with the pawl tooth IZa of the tongue I I to retain the three-part foldover extension in a more or less retracted position in opposition to the spring 2|.

Inside of the casing 1, at each side of the channel under its longitudinal bead 1b, is stationed a short keeper pin 26, and when the tongue II is properly inserted these pins hold its mid-length portion snugly into contact with the inner face of the rise Ib and also prevent lateral displacement of said tongue. Said tongue is resilient and is given a normal curvature suicient to impart the desired amount of spring action to its pawl portion I2a.

The outer wall of the casing 1 is furnished at the closed end of said casing with a hooked extension 39 to be hooked onto the bracelet section 6 at that end of said casing. The free end of the terminal foldover member IU is shown curled at 3| for the purpose of connecting it with the other bracelet section. Y

In the operation of the device, in order to contract the foldover assembly from its extended condition shown in Fig. 7, the terminal members 9 and I9 are first folded back upon the slidable member 8 and then the three superimposed members of said assembly may be pushed back into the casing 1 to the extent desired against the opposition of spring 2I. thus brought into enagagement with the series of ratchet shoulders formed by the apertures 25 in the terminal member I9, with the result that said pawl cooperates with said spring to maintain the slide 8 in its adjusted position. The extent. to which said slide is inserted will, of course, determine the closeness of the t of the bracelet upon the wrist of the wearer. When it is desired to remove the bracelet from the wrist, it is necessary only to pry up the projecting end portion I2 of the tongue II with a fingernail, or otherwise, thus disengaging the pawl I2a from the apertures 25 and permitting the spring 2l to extrude from the casing the slidable member 8, together with the members 9 and Il) overlying it. The spring 2l may be made strong enough to eject the foldover assembly with a sufficient The pawl I2a is' force not only to extrude the slidable member 8 but at the same time to throw the terminal members 9 and I 0 out to the unfolded position shown in Fig. 7.

Although I have described my invention in detail and therefore utilized certain specic terms and language herein, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that changes and modications other than those shown may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or the scope o! the subject matter claimed appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In an extensible foldover extension for bracelets and the like, an elongated arcuate casing, a foldover extension comprising a bed plate member, a middle foldable member, and, a terminal foldable member, saidl middle and terminal foldable members being nested in said bed plate member and slidable into said casing in its folded over condition, a spring within said casing tending to extrude said extension therefrom, there being a longitudinally extending space within said casing alongside said inserted extension, and a resilient arched tongue anchored within said space and having a manually accessible end portion projecting from the end of said casing and furnished with a pawl, and ratchet shoulders carried by said terminal member in a cooperative relation to said pawl.

2. An elongated arcuated casing comprising an upper wall and a lower wall joined by vertical side Walls; there being a mid-central rise extending longitudinally of said casing in the convex face of said upper wall; said upper wall having one end constructed for fastening with a bracelet chain; said lower wall being anged to partially close the lower portion of the open end of said casing adjacent said constructed end; a ioldover extension comprising a bed plate member, a middle foldable member, and a terminal foldable member, slidably mounted in said casing; said middle foldable member and said terminal foldable member being nested in said bed plate member; said terminal member being provided with a longitudinally extending series of apertures; a resilient releasing arcuate tongue; said tongue having notches at one end, and a lift terminating in a pawl tooth at the other end; means to support said tongue in said midcentral rise at a point intermediate the ends of said casing with said notches detachably engaging the edge portion of said flange in such a manner that said tongue is pre-stressed between its points of support, whereby the free end of said tongue through a lifting action may be iiexed to release said pawl from one of said apertures incident to ejecting said foldover extension from said casing; stop means to limit the extrusion of said bed plate member; and means abutting the latter member to automatically Veject said foldover extension from said casing upon release of said pawl from one of said apertures. Y

3. In a device of the kind described, an arcuate casing, a spring therein, a ioldable bracelet extension comprising a bed plate member, a middle foldable member, and, a terminal foldable member, said middle and terminal foldable members being nested in said bed plate member and extrudable from said casing under the urge of said spring,-

ratchet shoulders carried by said terminal member, and a spring tongue mounted within said casing, said tongue having a protruding end portion forming a ngernail lift and an abutment to engage the adjacent end of the casing, said protruding end portion being doubled over upon itself and having a projecting extremity which forms a pawl to cooperate with said shoulders.

4. An elongated arcuated casing comprising an upper wall and a lower wall joined by side Walls, said upper Wall having one end constructed for fastening With a bracelet chain; said lower Wall being flanged to partially close the lower portion of the open end of said casing adjacent said constructed end; a foldover extension comprising a base member, a middle foldable member, and a terminal foldable member; said foldover extension being slidably mounted in said casing; said middle and terminal foldable members being hinged one to the other to be folded together and nested in said base member; said terminal member being provided With a longitudinally extending series of apertures; a resilient releasing arcuate tongue; said tongue being supported at one end of said casing, by the said flange of the said lower Wall, with its upper convex face directed toward said upper wall; said tongue having a lift terminating in a pawl tooth at the other end; said lift being exposed at the end of said casing which is opposite said ange, said tongue through a lifting action being adapted to release said pawl from one of said apertures incident to ejecting said foldover extension from said casing; stop means to limit the extrusion of said foldover extension; and means operatively related to said foldover extension toautomatically eject it from said casing upon release of said pawl from one of said apertures.

ALBERT B. GOULDEN. 

